Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
7th International Selcuk Scientific Research Congress, Konya, Türkiye, 26 - 27 Temmuz 2025, ss.83, (Özet Bildiri)
International Relations (IR) as a discipline has long been criticized for its Western-centric foundations. Dominant theories, epistemologies, and pedagogical practices in IR have historically reflected the intellectual and political priorities of the Global North. This dynamic extends to the domain of IR teaching in terms of the selection of readings and theoretical frameworks in the course syllabi. The study investigates whether the Western orientation is similarly reproduced in the teaching of environment-related IR courses in Türkiye. This inquiry is especially relevant given that unequal consequences of environmental crises are to be more detrimental for non-Western societies. Analyzing whether the environment is framed through critical perspectives in a way to reflect global asymmetries is crucial for addressing the planetary crisis. This study utilized a descriptive content analysis to examine how the environment is being discussed in the teaching of International Relations (IR) programs in Türkiye. A total of 132 universities that offer undergraduate IR education, 73 of them did not offer any environment-related courses within their IR programs. In 59 universities, there are 66 distinct courses addressing environmental topics. However, it is found that detailed syllabi, including course aims and reading lists, were accessible for only 42. The analysis of course syllabi reveals that environment-related International Relations courses in Türkiye primarily focus on themes such as sustainable development, global environmental governance, and international institutional frameworks such as the Kyoto Protocol, UN environmental conventions, and energy security from a nation-state perspective. There was limited engagement with critical perspectives to environmental politics. The courses largely reflect a technocratic and managerial approach while reflecting limited focus on the structural inequalities embedded in the international system. Despite the growing urgency of ecological crises, the teaching of environmental politics in IR programs tends to reproduce mainstream problem-solving paradigms rather than critical perspectives.